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Non-Economic Provisions of Collective Bargaining Agreements in 2015 (Last of a Three-part series)

Reference Number:

2017-244

Release Date:

Friday, September 29, 2017

The registration of Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) is closely monitored as an indicator of harmonious labor-management relations and industrial peace in the country. A collective bargaining is a process where the parties agree to fix and administer terms and conditions of employment which must not be below the minimum standards fixed by law, and sets a mechanism for resolving the parties’ grievances.

Specifically, CBA is a contract executed upon incorporating the agreements reached after negotiations with the employer and the exclusive bargaining representative of the employees with respect to wages, hours of work and all other terms and conditions of employment. As such, a CBA includes economic provisions and non-economic provisions. Economic provisions include monetary value of wage increases, loan benefits, bonuses, allowances, retirement plan, and other fringe benefits. On the other hand, non-economic clauses include union security clauses, grievance procedures, labor-management cooperation schemes, and other provisions without monetary value.

This three-part series of LABSTAT Updates presents data on CBAs gathered from the documents filed at the Bureau of Labor Relations (BLR) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). This third part of the series specifically highlights the non-economic provisions of the 298 CBAs registered in 2015.

Among all types of non-economic clauses in CBAs, union security clause was the most stipulated clause in 2015 as specified in 267 CBAs (89.6%).
(Table 1)

By type of union security clause, almost three-fourths (74.5% or 222 CBAs) were check-offs in the form of union dues deducted from the employee’s salary for funding union-related activities. Other check-offs include the collection of special assessment fees (61.1% or 182) and agency fees (58.7%, or 175).